FALL RIVER -- The day before eternal imprisonment became the reality for Aaron Hernandez, the former Patriots tight end looked over his shoulder, as he usually did when he exited the courtroom, and flashed a wide smile at his girlfriend, Shayanna Jenkins.
Jenkins offered back a quick, quiet laugh, as if the two were reliving an inside joke.
This, for the long, tense week of jury deliberations, was the morning routine. Jenkins would arrive early in the courtroom, usually around 8:20 a.m. She'd sit by herself in the front row, right behind the seat Hernandez would briefly occupy.